As I am finding out, when you have leukemia, you stay in the hospital much more than when you have other types of cancer. I think this is in part because they take and test your blood 1-2 times a day. Depending on your counts, you might need to get platelets or other blood products to make up for what your body is not producing. With APL, I also was on a variety of pills and medications, ranging from anti virals, anti fungals, anti biotics and even potassium and magnesium suppliments.
Right now, I am here in the hospital for my first week of consolodation chemo, which is after your first round, you go on consolodation chemo, which is to make sure the cancer goes away...and you go into remission or are cured. My chemo this week is different from my first round. Every morning they give me an ekg to make sure my heart is healthy enough for the chemo treatment. After this week, I will go home and finish the remaining chemo as outpatient.
But, right now, I am in the hospital for one week so they can monitor me and make sure there is not an adverse reaction to this chemo. I am not hooked up to the IV, except for chemo time. Since I knew I was going to be spending a week here in the hospital, I packed a few things to keep me busy, like my laptop, ipad, cell phone, yarn (for crocheting), and a couple books. My bag also was stuffed with clothes, chocolate and small microwaveable frozen pizzas.
My hospital encourages patients to walk around the floor during your stay. Because I feel good right now, I wanted to walk around the hospital and go exploring, but they do not allow that here. You are confined to walk around your floor only, which can be boring. Its important to walk while you are here, though. I also try to leave my door open as much as possible during the day. Otherwise, I start to feel lonely and this weird feeling remeniscent of being 12 and grounded for the weekend.
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